THE SYDNEY ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION SOCIETY
Nova Scotia's First Heritage Conservation Revolving Fund
Liscombe House Project, Sydney
Update September 2012: Following careful review of RFP responses, the Liscombe House has been sold by the Sydney Architectural Conservation Society to a highly qualified renovator. Prior to sale, a covenant was put on the home (held by the Old Sydney Society) to ensure that the Liscombe House will never be demolished. The covenant includes ensuring that the exterior siding will go back to wood or wood shingle.
The funds from the sale will be used to rescue another threatened heritage landmark. Early in 2013, a reception will be held to celebrate the success of the Liscombe House Project and to thank all those who assisted so generously. Without the intervention of the Sydney Architectural Conservation Society and the Old Sydney Society, the Liscombe House, which was vacant and rapidly deteriorating, would have been lost.
May 2012: Request for Proposals – Liscombe House
(pdf document - requires Acrobat Reader ) March 31st, 2012: Don't Miss Our Practical Workshop: Your Home, Your Street: How to Discover Your Past. All proceeds to the Liscombe House Project Liscombe House Print Sale
Liscombe House Print Sale
(pdf document - requires Acrobat Reader ) March 31st, 2012: Don't Miss Our Practical Workshop: Your Home, Your Street: How to Discover Your Past. All proceeds to the Liscombe House Project Liscombe House Print Sale
Liscombe House Print Sale
VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBERS OF THE FIRST BOARD OF THE SYDNEY ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION SOCIETY (2011), pictured in front of the Liscombe House, the first acquisition of Sydney's Heritage Conservation Revolving Fund, which is supported by donations. Pictured from left to right: Donnie Ward (president of the Old Sydney Society), Alicia Lake (Cape Breton University), Dr. Ken Donovan (historian, Parks Canada), Christie MacNeil (Beaton Institute, CBU), Joyce Rankin (community developer), Dr. Tom Urbaniak (Cape Breton University), Simon Gillis (Whitney Pier Historical Society), and Carl Getto (community development researcher and chair of the committee). Absent: Catherine Arseneau (Director of the Beaton Institute, CBU), Gary Corsano (lawyer), and Ken Langley (lawyer).
The archival photographs shown alongside are of former residents Olive and Ella Liscombe, on the property in the 1920s.
The archival photographs shown alongside are of former residents Olive and Ella Liscombe, on the property in the 1920s.
Lot For sale
Request for Proposals
October 2019:
Acquisition for $1 and development of three contiguous properties - part of Red Row -- Sydney Mines - deadline May 31, 2019.
Supporting Documents:
RFP - Red Row | Appendix A - Red Row History | Appendix B - Video Link
Supporting Documents:
RFP - Red Row | Appendix A - Red Row History | Appendix B - Video Link
Kolonia building lot for sale
JULY 2017:
The Society is selling one of its lots in the Kolonia section of Whitney Pier, 10 Bryan St. Click here for the listing.
The Society is retaining the lot on which we developed a small park.
The Society is retaining the lot on which we developed a small park.
Free, Expert "Green Audits"
October 2016:
The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society is collaborating with Cape Breton University's Tompkins Institute and Faith and the Common Good (national inter-faith organization) to provide three Cape Breton faith communities with free, expert "Green Audits" and follow-up support. Please click here for a "Request for Expressions of Interest." Deadline: October 24, 2016.
Kolonia Historic Area
Request for Proposals
UPDATE MARCH 2015
Our Heritage Revolving Fund is now researching possible properties to acquire for rehabilitation/regeneration.
Contact person: Peggy Vassallo
The Kolonia Immigrant Heritage Parkette will be unveiled this summer.
Request for Proposals
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2014 - Successfully completed
OCTOBER 2013
Request for Proposals – Victoria Road Property, Whitney Pier
Request for Proposals – Victoria Road Property, Whitney Pier
Whitney Pier Projects
UPDATE MARCH 2014: Following the arson of the completed kapliczka, the Society and its partners are working on a redesign for implementation beginning in the summer of 2014.
UPDATE JULY 2013: The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society has recently acquired a home on Victoria Road in Whitney Pier and will be going through a process similar to the Liscombe House project. The home will eventually be used for quality affordable housing.
The Society has also acquired a vacant lot (no building) on Bryan St. in Whitney Pier – in the historic section of the Pier known as Kolonia -- and is in the process of beautifying the site in collaboration with local students and organizations. The lot will have a beautiful traditional roadside shrine (kapliczka), which is presently being carved by Liam Tromans.
Historic Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club Building
UPDATE APRIL 2013: The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society (SACS) and the Old Sydney Society have jointly called for the conservation and adaptive re-use of this site of national importance, the last remaining heritage building on the Sydney waterfront. The site has been recently acquired by the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, a federal Crown corporation. SACS has prepared a proposed Request for Expressions of Interest document, which it has recommended be issued by ECBC.
From February 28-March 2, 2013 SACS hosted Chris Borgal, one of Canada's leading restoration architects, who contributed his expertise as a service to Cape Breton and to the Heritage Canada Foundation. Mr. Borgal reviewed the building and prepared an overview report, which can be accessed here (9.5 Mb).
For Mr. Borgal's CV, please click here.
Bryan Street Property
UPDATE APRIL 2013: The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society has acquired from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality a vacant lot on Bryan St., in the historic Kolonia section of Whitney Pier. SACS has promised the CBRM to spend a minimum of $5,000 this year beautifying the site in a manner consistent with the area's heritage. On March 26, a design workshop was held with Grade 8 and 9 students at Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High School to begin planning the site. The students had access to expert resource people of various disciplines and to knowledgeable local residents.
Next Historic Home for Renovation by S.A.C.S.
The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society is in the process of negotiating the acquisition of an endangered, historically rich century-old home in Whitney Pier and hopes to begin renovations this summer. More details to follow...
The mandate of the Sydney Architectural Conservation Society is to rescue threatened historic buildings - especially vacant and unused buildings -- by acquiring them, renovating them, protecting them with heritage covenants (easements on title), selling them to sympathetic purchasers, and by using the funds from the sale to rescue and conserve other historic buildings in the former colonial capital of Cape Breton and in the city's multicultural and architecturally rich working-class neighbourhoods.
Over time, this volunteer, non-profit effort will also create new housing and small-business units, and promote sustainable development by preventing the hollowing out of already-serviced urban areas.
The first renovation project is the Liscombe House in Sydney's North End. Built about 1870, it is one of the few Italianate buildings in Sydney. The home was purchased with donated funds in the summer of 2011. Renovations began in July and are continuing as more funds are raised. The roof, which required major repairs, has been completed, and various exterior work has been done as well. CBCL Consultants has assisted the Society with a report on the scope of work for the interior. The preliminary report was completed on November 3, 2011, and will help the Society to evaluate contractors' quotes. The original plan, still in effect, is for SACS to address the main issues and to leave it to subsequent owners to effect additional improvements, subject to a heritage easement.
The Sydney Architectural Conservation Society was incorporated in April 2011 on the initiative of the Old Sydney Society. The initiative was recommended in a report by a Cape Breton University professor, who is volunteering with the project. He studied successful heritage revolving funds around the world.
SYDNEY ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION SOCIETY
c/o Old Sydney Society
225 George St.
Sydney, NS, B1P 1J5
For more information, please contact:
Alicia Lake
902-563-1989
alicia_lake@cbu.ca Tom Urbaniak
902-563-1226
tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca at Cape Breton University. The first project – the Liscombe House – was initiated with the assistance of the Old Sydney Society and HomeMatch, a program of Cape Breton University and the Affordable Housing Renovation Partnership.
c/o Old Sydney Society
225 George St.
Sydney, NS, B1P 1J5
For more information, please contact:
Alicia Lake
902-563-1989
alicia_lake@cbu.ca Tom Urbaniak
902-563-1226
tom_urbaniak@cbu.ca at Cape Breton University. The first project – the Liscombe House – was initiated with the assistance of the Old Sydney Society and HomeMatch, a program of Cape Breton University and the Affordable Housing Renovation Partnership.